Harmful lifestyle choices and obesity potentially accelerate heart aging by up to 45 years.
Tackling heart health is crucial for early detection and effective treatment of heart issues. Enter the world of cardiac MRI, a tool that might help estimate the functional age of one's heart rather than just the biological age.
Researchers from various locations across three countries delved into this intriguing concept. They wanted to investigate how well hearts age, particularly when it comes to healthy versus unhealthy aging. They pointed out that certain modifiable risk factors, such as high blood pressure, can accelerate how quickly the heart ages. An intriguing method to assess the heart's appearance and function? Cardiac MRI.
The team compared a healthy reference population of participants against those with at least one comorbidity, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity. They also used another group as a "preliminary external validation" cohort.
Participants went through a series of heart structure and function examinations, allowing researchers to create a model to determine participants' heart ages. It considered left atrial end-systolic volume and left atrial ejection fraction, which evaluate the left upper chamber of the heart's function.
The findings revealed that healthy participants' heart ages were pretty much the same as their actual age. The unhealthy participants, however, had heart ages that were higher than their chronological age, with cardiac MRI-derived heart ages almost five years older than the chronological age of these participants.
Interesting discoveries? Obesity seemed to increase the functional age of the heart. With more weight came more heart years, with participants having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher having a functional heart age 45 years higher than their actual age. People with atrial fibrillation also had higher functional heart ages compared to healthy individuals.
Functional heart age increases were also noticeable in certain age groups with high blood pressure and diabetes, although there were exceptions for the older age group.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal Open, is a promising leap in heart health research. Still, it has its limitations, including the use of estimations, potential survivor bias, and lack of measurements to account for factors like exercise and diet.
When discussing the study's findings, Dr. Pankaj Garg, one of the researchers, highlighted a few key points: "We have discovered an equation—a simple math formula—that uses data from heart MRI scans to figure out how old your heart looks. For healthy folks, their heart age matches their real age. But if someone has [conditions] like high blood pressure, diabetes, a wonky heartbeat, or extra weight, their heart can look way older—about 4.6 years older on average. For people with a lot of extra weight, their hearts look up to 45 years older!"
As we move forward, long-term studies and real-world application will help validate the heart age calculation model's reliability and robustness for clinical use. Could determining the functional age of the heart motivate patients to improve their lifestyles, incentivize early intervention, and ultimately, lead to a healthier society? Only time will tell.
[1] A. Sharma, et al., "Growing pace of cardiac aging is associated with impaired exercise tolerance and functional capacity in older Indians." ESC Heart Failure, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 2487-2496, May 2022.
[2] M. Moussa, et al., "Prediction of thresholds for left ventricular hypertrophy and risk assessment in a young African American population." Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 70, no. 22, pp. 1861-1869, June 2017.
- Seniors with other heart diseases, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, may find their hearts aged more rapidly, as shown by studies.
- Cardiovascular health is significantly linked to fitness and exercise, nutrition, and medical-conditions like obesity.
- The science behind cardiac MRI scans can provide cardiovascular disease estimations, helping to assess a person's heart functional age.
- Statistics reveal that obesity can lead to a functional heart age that is considerably higher than one's chronological age.
- hearts age differently based on various factors like obesity, high blood pressure, and certain medical conditions, as demonstrated by the study's findings.
- Researchers aim to motivate seniors to take control of their heart health and wellness, using innovative techniques like cardiac MRI.
- Certain medications and contraindications could impact the accurate determination of heart functional age during cardiac MRI evaluations.
- Early detection and treatment of heart issues can be facilitated by regular fitness-and-exercise, healthcare, and nutrition, boosting overall cardiovascular health.
- In the world of medicine, the concept of heart functional age estimation could revolutionize the way we approach heart health and disease.
- The long-term benefits of determining heart functional age remain to be seen, with potential advantages including the motivation of patients to improve lifestyle choices and the incentivization of early intervention for a healthier society.
